Day 24 - Jonava, Lithuania - Celebrate the Lithuania Way in Kėdainiai

Joan's View

Today was our biggest riding day, 62 miles. We left early, 7:30, even though Tony wanted to leave at 6:30. The hosts kindly moved our bike out of their garage for us. On the road, it took a few stops before we actually made some mileage. The radar that detects cars behind us had to be turned on, Tony needed to put his pump in activity mode, and it started to rain enough that Tony wanted his rain jacket. FYI - There was a zero percent chance of rain on Tony's weather app. 

The rain was short lived but we got a nice soaking. About 10 miles in, we saw this old, non-working windmill. It is one of the few in the Baltics. This roadside cross was only a few that we have seen in the Baltics as well.

The sheep in Lithuania are a different breed !

We rode 47 miles of highway today with a shoulder that averaged about a foot. Tony did a great job navigating the potholes, narrow shoulders, bumpy roads, etc. Lots of motorcyclists were out today and we got an extra amount of honks and waves from the motorcycle groups. Seems like a Saturday thing to do around here. There also was a caravan of military vehicles that passed us, about 15 in total. We were guessing they were coming from the base that we practically ran into yesterday. It looked like the last truck was carrying ammunition.

It's also possible that there were doing surveillance on Tony since he wanted to take pictures yesterday even though the sign said "No Pictures." 

Doing some research, the Kėdainiai Air Base is a strategic military and civilian dual-use airport that serves as a crucial staging point for military operations and training exercises for NATO forces. 

We rode through a small town and took a break at a grocery store. Look what Tony found there.

About half way on our ride, Tony routed us through the city of Kėdainiai. So glad that he did. The town was celebrating their anniversary. There were street vendors, music, and a parade of authentic Lithuanian dressed people. It was such a fun experience. I even found a few souvenirs. 😀

We got to sample these, but to buy some you had to buy a full ring of circles.

Back on the highway, we did a few more of our usual breaks at bus stops. We saw quite a few water wells still in use today. 

We rode into Jonava a little before 3:00. Since our place is about 1.5 miles out of the city, we stopped at Maxima XX for Joan's breakfast pastries and Tony's beer. I also got a picture there of an obstacle that Tony has had to navigate around this entire trip. The Bolt scooters tend to get left right in the middle of bike paths. Still trying to figure out that logic.

Dinner tonight was at Arma. We went to our place and unloaded the bags. Then we rode back into the city to eat and go to 6:00 mass. One of the biggest hills on our trip so far was on the way to our place. Thus, we had to go up that beast of a hill twice today. Ugh!

A Lithuanian favorite dish

Another Lithuanian favorite dish

It was so sweet at mass, the church was decorated with children's drawings.

Tony's Extras

It was amazing that we left the Airbnb with an hourly weather report saying 0% chance of rain. I packed my raincoat deep into my pannier. We started out and it was sprinkling. We decided to stop and dig it out to put it on. As soon as I got it out, the rain stopped. Just a few miles down the road, we saw rain clouds in front and to the side of us. It then started pouring (remember 0% chance of rain). I hurried up, stopped and got the raincoat out. Too late, I was wet 😡. It rained for about 5 miles and we were then able to dry out. 

Had some really cool bicycle bridges that we crossed today. They justified some pictures 👍👍. 

As I am writing my part of the blog, you can hear fireworks go off in Jonava. 🎆🎆